Toad runs on all 32-bit/64-bit Windows platforms, including Microsoft Windows Server,Windows XP, Windows Vista,Windows 7 and 8 (32-Bit or 64-Bit). Dell Software has also released a Toad Mac Edition. Dell provides Toad in commercial and trial/freeware versions. The Freeware version is available from the ToadWorld.com community.[2]

Jim McDaniel (aka "TOADman"), a practicing Oracle DBA, originally designed Toad for his own use in the late 1990s.[3] He called it Tool for Oracle Application Developers: "TOAD" for short. McDaniel made the tool available to others first as shareware and later as freeware, distributing it freely over the Internet.

As the user base grew, so did the effort of maintenance and development. Finally, the author realized that he could no longer dedicate substantial amounts of time to the growing quantity of software enhancement requests.

Quest Software, established in 1987, acquired TOAD in October 1998[4] and became part of Dell in September 2012[5]

^Scalzo, Bert; Hotka, Dan (February 2003). Toad Handbook. Developer's Library. Jim McDaniel. Sams Publishing. p. xiv. ISBN9780672324864. Retrieved 2013-10-23. I've been working on TOAD now for more than six years. Or has it been seven?